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Saturday, November 29, 2008

MUSCAT – Oman, which recently set up a Human Rights Commission, has reiterated its commitment to curbing trafficking in humans and sexual exploitation of children.

Social Development Minister Dr Sharifa bint Khalfan Al Yahya’eeya, extending her country’s wholehearted cooperation to the global drive against the menaces, also revealed that the government had formed working teams to survey the Sultanate’s regions and review the conditions of children and families with the aim of drawing up a ‘rapid intervention plan’.

“The Omani society vehemently opposes all forms of sexual exploitation because it contradicts with the values and traditions of the Omani society as well as the teachings of Islam,” she said.

She was addressing delegates at the ‘World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents’ in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.

She said the Sultanate considered a strong family as the first line of defence against sexual exploitation of children, adding that the Basic Law of the State guaranteed the dignity of all citizens and residents and protected them against violence and exploitation, regardless of their age, ethnic background or religion.

The laws in force in the Sultanate, Dr Sharifa said, prohibited all forms of sexual exploitation of children, slavery and trade, possession or promotion of pornographic materials.

“The first draft of the Child Law is currently under revision by the departments concerned as well as NGOs,” she added.

She said the ministry had constituted working teams to survey all the Sultanate’s regions and assess the conditions of children and families and prepare a rapid intervention action plan.

Dr Sharifa observed that the Internet is being used at a global level to destroy the lives of millions of children through the “propagation of the sex business which keeps luring children to the making and distribution of pornographic materials”.

She said the Rio de Janeiro congress must be considered as an important step in efforts to realise children’s rights.

Five major themes are being addressed by the congress — forms of commercial sexual exploitation and the emerging scenarios in this respect; international trafficking; child pornography on the Internet, sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in tourism; and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in prostitution.

Friday, November 28, 2008

From UNICEF:RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, 26 November 2008 – Some 3,000 participants from more than 125 countries gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for last night’s opening ceremony of World Congress III Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.

The event, which runs from 25-28 November, is focusing on how to protect children from various types of sexual exploitation such as child marriage, the commercial sex industry, child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children on the internet. Among the opening night speakers were Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

Veneman reminded those in attendance that sexual exploitation is a way to assert control over others, often by men against women and children. She also noted that men need to be a big part of the solution.

Earlier in the day, Veneman met with children from Brazil who are fighting sexual exploitation in their own country. Later, she met a group of children from all over the world, and listened to their stories of sexual exploitation in their home countries.

A global reality

The sexual exploitation of children and adolescents is gaining growing visibility as a global reality. Worldwide, children are suffering from the effects of trafficking, pornography, prostitution, rape and abuse.

The opening theme of the World Congress focused on a systemic approach to protecting children from sexual exploitation.

A young girl drapes her hand over the shoulder of a man she is soliciting outside a brothel in the city of Tangail, Bangladesh.

The importance of educating children about sexual exploitation "is as important an obligation as it is to give food every day to the children so they can survive," said Brazil's President Lula during his opening remarks.

Exploitation may be increasing

Many studies in the last decade, including the recent UN Study on Violence Against Children, indicate that the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents is increasing. There is also growing evidence of criminal activity related to the trafficking of children for sexual purposes and the proliferation of exploitative imagery and other internet-related crimes.

The sexual exploitation of children is fuelled by international demand, which threatens children and adolescents of all ages, in every corner of the world.

The driving force behind the third World Congress is to make the global response more emphatic and comprehensive as this problem continues to become more complex in its manifestations and scope.

The rape of women and children is a recognized weapon of war. A 12-year-old girl, displaced by conflict in the Darfur Region of Sudan, was raped by government soldiers.

A worldwide response to sexual exploitation

As a key organizer of the Congress, UNICEF will join the international community to better protect children from sexual exploitation and reinforce the basic right to protection that must be guaranteed for all children.

The Brazilian Government, UNICEF and other partners involved in the Congress see it as being practical, solution-driven and innovative. It is an opportunity to broaden alliances, address new challenges and promote international cooperation for more effective prevention and response to sexual exploitation.

Setting goals to protect children

Additional organizing partners of the Congress are UNICEF, ECPAT, and the non-governmental organization 'Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child'.

Throughout the three-day event, there will be many workshops and discussions. Five panels will deal with identifying forms of commercial exploitation, developing a legal framework, adapting policies that address these issues and strengthening forms of international cooperation.

The event will result in setting important goals for how countries will fight the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Eighteen foreigners and a Malian suspected to be the kingpin of human trafficking in Nigeria, were on Friday, handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Offences by the Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

The alleged kingpin, Mr. Mahmud Culibaley, was arrested after a tip-off by the NIS at a border town in Lagos, while trying to arrange for the distribution of the 18 foreigners to different parts of the country.

Culibaley was alleged to have facilitated the entry of hundreds of illegal immigrants into the country in the last few months.

According to the Comptroller, Lagos Command of the NIS, Mr. Ayo Oredipe, the upsurge in illegal immigrants is becoming a major threat to national security as the motives or intention of the immigrants cannot be immediately ascertained.

Worried by this development, the Comptroller-General of NIS, Mr. Chukwurah Udeh, had recently summoned the top hierarchy of the Immigration to discuss and find a solution on issues of human trafficking.

He said, “We have a serious issue that had been of concern to government. We discovered that so many able-bodied men are being brought into the country. We are not certain about where they are going, but we want to put a stop to it.

“It is true that there is poverty, but it has not got to the stage of bondage. What is going on is a threat to national security; this is a situation where the productive manpower from other countries is entering Nigeria illegally.

He added, “We were given a mandate to fish out Culibaley and here he is with 18 other foreigners waiting to be distributed to different parts of the country. We are going to hand him over to NAPTIP and we suggest that he should be prosecuted.

“He said he had been in this business in the last six months, but today, his business empire had collapsed.”

The Public Relations Officer, NIS, Lagos command, Mr. Sunday Abutu, said that investigation carried out could not link their movement with terrorism, stressing that it was more of human trafficking.

In an interaction with our correspondent, Culibaley, who said he was the leader of Malians in Nigeria, disclosed that the foreigners usually gathered at a point from where they were brought into Lagos by motor cycle operators.

While admitting that the illegal immigrants were brought in for labour, Culibaley, however, said that he knew that what he was doing was illegal.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

From The Miami Herald:U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, in coordinated South Florida raids, arrested four suspected sex traffickers and rescued nine trafficking victims who had been forced into prostitution in several brothels, federal authorities said late Friday.

Detention hearings are scheduled for each of the defendants on Tuesday.

ICE conducted an intensive investigation into more than a dozen brothels and stash houses where immigrant women were being forced into prostitution. Through statements of former victims, corroborated by surveillance and evidence obtained through search warrants, ICE arrested the four alleged brothel operators as part of a larger criminal organization operating similar brothels across South Florida.

Officials also worked with non governmental organizations to identify, rescue and provide assistance to the victims.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The International Labour Office (ILO) is to reinforce its efforts to help employers and the private sector contribute to the global fight against forced labour, which the ILO estimates afflicts more than 12 million persons worldwide.

The Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL) of the ILO said it had prepared a new handbook that would fortify the capacity of employers and business leaders to assess the risk of forced labour and human trafficking in their operations and global supply chains.

“The role of employers and the private sector in the fight against forced labour is of paramount importance”, said Roger Plant, head of the ILO programme. “Business is increasingly asking for guidance in combating forced labour, and we intend to continue supporting them.”

The new publication entitled “Combating forced labour: A handbook for Employers and Business”, provides information on issues such forced labour, human trafficking, prison labour, debt bondage, abuses in labour contract systems, overtime and different forms of coercion in employment. It was developed in extensive consultation with experts from companies, as well as international and national employers’ organisations and civil society groups, all from different regions and economic sectors.

The handbook provides practical guidance for businesses of all kinds, including advice on what action they can take to prevent or rid forced labour in their supply chains.

The new handbook has been endorsed by the International Organization of Employers. IOE Secretary-General Antonio Peñalosa said it would provide with “much needed new tools to help employer organisations and their members understand the issue of forced labour, in taking the necessary measures to avoid being involved in those situations and in contributing to the total elimination of forced and compulsory labour”.

David Arkless, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs of Manpower added that his organization “welcomed this recent initiative as an important and timely intervention, and one that will significantly help companies in all sectors address this challenging issue”.

“Employers’ organisations, in particular, are strategically well-placed to lead this work with the private sector, and business involvement is key to the success of the ILO’s campaign to rid the world of forced labour”, Mr. Plant said.

The webpage of the manual outlines reasons the private sector should play a role in combating labor trafficking and the set up of the document:

There are many reasons why business and employers’ organisations should play a central role in the global fight against forced labour and human trafficking:

-Legal compliance: Forced labour and trafficking in persons are punishable as crimes in most countries around the world, and companies found involved in such activities could face prosecution.-Managing risk and reputation: To be successful, companies must manage risk in an environment where risk is not static and can emerge through the actions of the company itself, its suppliers and other actors. Allegations of forced labour and trafficking present legal risks as well as serious threats to brand and company reputation.-Forced labour in global supply chains: Globalisation and the growing links across countries and firms have raised forced labour and trafficking in persons as significant issues within global supply chains.-Codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility (CSR): The elimination of forced labour is a key element of codes of conduct and other CSR initiatives. Companies – particularly those that supply consumer markets and have significant brand value – face new and growing expectations that production will comply with social and human rights criteria.-Forced labour and human trafficking are morally unacceptable.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

-UK government: Around 4,000 women trafficked in the UK for sexual exploitation-Interior ministry introduces new proposals to clamp down on sex trade-Minister: Measures will shift the focus onto sex buyers because they create demand-Sex workers representative: Move is counterproductive, will force prostitution underground

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Paying for sex with trafficked or exploited women would become a crime under new laws proposed by the UK government Wednesday.

The act of purchasing sex is not currently a criminal offense in England and Wales -- although there are laws against paying for sex in a public place and persistently soliciting prostitutes.

Now UK Home Secretary (interior minister) Jacqui Smith says she is proposing the new measures to protect vulnerable women and tackle the demand for prostitution.

Britain's interior ministry, known as the Home Office, introduced the new measures Wednesday after a six-month review that looked at what else the government could do to protect women being exploited for sexual gain.

"I want to do everything we can to protect the thousands of vulnerable women coerced, exploited or trafficked into prostitution in our country, and to bring those who take advantage of them to justice," Smith said in a statement.

Smith said the new measures will shift the focus onto sex buyers because they create demand for prostitution and demand for the trafficking of women for sex.

"There will be no more excuses for those who pay for sex," she added.

As part of the review, the government looked at the experience of other countries including Sweden -- which has criminalized paying for sex -- and the Netherlands, where brothels are licensed.

The government estimates around 80,000 people are involved in prostitution in Britain, with about 4,000 women having been trafficked for sexual exploitation. It says the prostitution market nationwide is worth up to £1 billion ($1.52 billion).

Trafficking is the movement of women from one place to another for the purposes of sex. British Authorities have said trafficking usually involves the trafficker promising to bring a woman to Britain for a better life and then forcing her into prostitution.

The measures -- which must be approved by Parliament -- would mean that those committing the new offense would be given a criminal record and fined £1,000 ($1,520) -- even if it was a person's first offense and the offender did not know the prostitute was being controlled by a pimp or had been trafficked.

Police would also be given powers to close and seal premises suspected of being used for sexual exploitation, such as brothels, which the government said will prevent further exploitation and abuse from taking place.

Current law prohibits curb crawling, which involves soliciting prostitutes from a motor vehicle persistently or in a manner that causes annoyance to the neighborhood. It also prohibits "persistent soliciting," which is essentially curb crawling without a car.

But representatives of sex workers attacked the plans Wednesday, saying they will force prostitution further underground and make women more vulnerable to violence.

"It's going to really make it more difficult for men to use the sex industry, and it's going to mean that women are going to have to take more risks in order to earn the same money," said Cari Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes. "It's also going to drive it underground. It's going to increase the stigma."

Mitchell said the government's figures are inflated, and that most immigrant women working as prostitutes have not been trafficked and are working independently.

The new measures, she said, confuse prostitution with trafficking and take the focus off those women who may be vulnerable.

"Of women who may be trafficked and forced, what they need is to be able to come forward and report to the police without any fear of being deported," Mitchell told CNN.

The new restrictions on curb crawling won't end the practice, Mitchell said, but simply give prostitutes less time to weigh up any potential dangers before getting in the client's car.

CNN provides a topics page with video and the most recent stories on human trafficking.

This is a post from Dipnote, the official blog of the U.S. State Department:

About the Author: Ambassador Mark P. Lagon is Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

I have recently visited two major powers in the Middle East -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- quite different from one another in the context of trafficking in persons (TIP). I came away with striking impressions from my visits and dialogue.

There are some promising efforts in Egypt. Amendments to the child protection law last June define for the first time crimes of trafficking of children. This includes the most serious TIP vulnerability in Egypt: children (especially street children) exploited as domestic servants or in prostitution.

Since ratification of the UN TIP Protocol four years ago, discussion of crafting a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law has seemingly accelerated. The Egyptian anti-TIP interagency group (like the one I chair in the United States) is consulting with UN agencies on the law's content, and we hope it will cover internal, as well as transnational (e.g. through Egypt to Israel), TIP.

Notably, a rising generation of key government officials has a clear interest in fighting the gross exploitation which constitutes TIP.

Nonetheless, it was clear from our visit to Cairo that Egypt needs a system for identifying victims and for referring them to social services. Although drop-in centers for vulnerable street children exist, we hope the Government of Egypt and civil society will band together to make these centers safe havens for all children exposed to forced begging, sexual exploitation, and other harm on the streets.

Sexual exploitation of young people is taking some troubling forms in Egypt. We learned of Sudanese refugee girls and young women lured into prostitution by gangs. This is a sorry fate for those fleeing Sudan. Moreover, sex tourists are increasingly going to places like Luxor and Alexandria to abuse Egypt's young. I stressed how the United States has enacted and enforced laws to punish child sex tourists who commit crimes abroad, and is urging European nations to follow suit. One particular horror is Saudi and other Gulf visitors acquiring (and I use that word purposefully) youth brides in so-called "temporary marriages."

It was, in fact, the Gulf and Saudi Arabia which we flew to next. I had very direct dialogue with the Ministries of Interior, Labor, and Social Affairs, sharing our steady, though not perfect, experiences in confronting TIP at home.

The sponsorship system in Saudi Arabia -- tying migrant workers to a single employer -- is rife with vulnerability to human trafficking. This system, which is seen throughout the Gulf, is compounded in Saudi Arabia by the disproportionate power given to employers of housemaids, construction workers, and agricultural laborers in the form of exit permits. A migrant worker cannot leave the country without the okay of their "sponsor." This gives unscrupulous employers devastating leverage should they subject workers to abusive conditions or withhold their pay. We heard countless testimonials of this kind of abuse.

One potentially positive initiative is discussion of reforming this sponsorship system. We were told by senior officials of serious discussions to create large labor companies in the Saudi Kingdom to more flexibly manage the placement of workers. If adopted this could do much to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers, and indeed offer momentum to similar changes throughout the smaller states of the Gulf.

We visited two shelters -- one run by the Ministry of Social Affairs and one by the Embassy of the Philippines. The contrast between the two was marked. The Government shelter is limited to serving female domestic workers who are not met by employers at the airport, as well as short-term guests near resolution of contract disputes in court. But there is no systematic or broad referral of victims to this shelter.

By contrast, the Philippines is as active on behalf of the welfare of its migrant workers in the Kingdom as it is worldwide. We met with housemaids compelled to flee employers. One woman was in two leg casts after leaping to escape from a window. We heard of employers' repeated violence, and the squeezing of every hour of the day and ounce of energy from these survivors. One such survivor described the brutality of the employer who kicked, pushed, and punched her for the slightest mistake. Facing years of court battles if they brought their cases to the court, many of these women opted dejectedly to simply return to the safety of their home countries.

The stories of these victims drove home the violence and desperation women and migrant workers face in Saudi Arabia and many other countries, at the hands of people who treat them as less than human. States must step up to the responsibility of protecting the helpless on their soil. The United States devotes diplomacy to this cause every day.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

This video is a collection of statements from members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, composed of elected Members of Parliament from different political parties of the Member States of the European Union. These national delegations cooperate together in the European Parliament as the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). One of their campaigns is Stop Human Trafficking, and it focuses on the progress of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Palermo Protocol. Currently, the Convention has been signed by 22 countries and ratified by 18.

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) The fight against Human trafficking crimes would require sensitisation of law enforcement officials and other stakeholders, the Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan said today, pressing for an intensified action to curb the social menace."We need sensitive police officers, prosecutors and magistracy," he said, adding that it was the only way of improving the quality of justice delivery in such crimes starting from registration of cases to investigation and to the delivery of justice in such cases.

"We have a lot of talented people and we just need to increase the creed of fine prosecutors and judicial officers," he said, inaugurating a colloquium on Justice Delivery in Human Trafficking Crimes here.

Linking the social problem with attempts to give it a colour of religion in some states, the Chief Justice said "It is not merely an economic problem but is also associated with superstition...People need to be made aware of the problem and we, through NALSA, are trying to sensitise people on their rights." Trafficking is a complicated problem and it requires a co-ordinated and interdisciplinary response. "It touches on the domains of human rights protection and gender justice while posing some difficult problems for law-enforcement officials," the CJI said.

Releasing a resource book on the Legal Framework for Anti-Human Trafficking measures, Chief Justice Balakrishnan said "This book is meant for use by law enforcement officials and other stakeholders with the aim of sensitising them about effective role that they can play." PTI

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The state needs to do more to address the growing trend of modern-day slavery, according to a report released yesterday by the Statewide Interagency Commission on Human Trafficking, which recommended legislation and training for law enforcement officials as means to counter what it calls a problem transcending borders.

There are few documented cases of human trafficking in the state because the crime is difficult to quantify, said the report's lead author, Jennifer Durant of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. But incidents over the past several years indicate that the state is not immune.

Human trafficking is characterized by the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtainment of a person through force, fraud or coercion for labor or sexually commercial purposes.

Federal laws criminalizing human trafficking have inspired some states to draft localized legislation. It's important for New Hampshire to address the issue in its criminal code, Durant said, and to coordinate and train law enforcement and victims'-rights agencies.

Lawmakers and committee members gathered at the Legislative Office Building in Concord yesterday to release the report, "The Hidden Problem of Human Trafficking: Addressing Modern Day Slavery in New Hampshire."

A recently reported case involved a 17-year-old girl who was forced to work as a sex slave near the Seacoast, according to the report.

In August 2007, a former victims' advocate got a call from the National Human Trafficking Hotline in New York City, which connected her with the victim. The girl, who escaped her captors, told the advocate that she had been kidnapped from her native country when she was 12 and forced to work as a sex slave with five other girls in the house. The girl said she had been starved for days and stabbed in the abdomen, the report said.

After the advocate picked the girl up and brought her to the crisis center, she called the national hotline back.

During the call, someone mentioned contacting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Because the woman was undocumented, she fled and was not heard from again, the report said.

Captors often tell victims they will get in trouble if they try to get help, Durant said.

SB 194 establishes the Statewide Interagency Commission on Human Trafficking. The commission is charged with analyzing the adequacy of existing criminal legislation to address human trafficking and making recommendations for revising these criminal statutes or creating new ones; working with law enforcement personnel to develop methodologies for collecting data on human trafficking; identifying available federal, state, and local programs that provide services to trafficking victims; and evaluating approaches to increase public awareness of trafficking. The commission must report its findings and recommendations to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house, the senate clerk, the house clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2008.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Banco Bradesco is the First Institution in the Latin America Region to Join the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography.

The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) announced today that Banco Bradesco, one of the largest financial institutions in Latin America, has joined the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography (FCACP). The Coalition is a group of leading banks, credit card companies, third party payment companies and Internet services companies working together to fight commercial child pornography over the Internet. Launched in 2006, the initiative is managed by ICMEC and its sister organization, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Child pornography has become a multi-billion dollar commercial enterprise and is among the fastest growing businesses on the Internet. The Internet has enabled instant access to child pornography by thousands and possibly millions of individuals around the world. Consumers are able to use traditional payment tools, such as credit cards, as well as new, alternative payment schemes, to purchase child pornography on the Internet. The mission of the Coalition is to follow the flow of funds and shut down the payments accounts used by these illicit enterprises.

"From the start of the Coalition, we knew that it would take a truly global effort to tackle this horrendous problem," said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and Chairman of the Coalition. "Banco Bradesco's commitment, expertise and leadership role in the financial industry will fortify our efforts as we work to disrupt the economics of commercial child pornography."

The exact number of child pornography web sites is difficult to determine. In 2001, the CyberTipline, a U.S. reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation operated by NCMEC, received more than 24,400 reports. By October 2008, the number of reports had climbed to more than 636,000.

Monday, November 10, 2008

A suspect in the 2005 disappearance of an Alabama teen in Aruba is involved in selling Thai women into prostitution, a Dutch TV reporter claims.

Reporter Peter De Vries has made a second hidden-camera expose on Dutch student Joran Van der Sloot, who was believed to be with Natalee Holloway when she vanished while on a senior trip to Aruba. De Vries won an Emmy this year for another report on Van Der Sloot, 21, in which the student admits to dumping Holloway’s body after she suddenly began shaking and died as they were kissing.

De Vries’ latest report, which was shown Sunday night on Dutch television, shows Van der Sloot telling someone posing as a sex-industry boss that he can get passports for Thai women and girls who think they are going to the Netherlands to work as dancers, DutchNews.nl reported.

Van der Sloot makes about $13,000 for every woman sold into prostitution in the Netherlands, De Vries claims.

“The pictures show how little respect this 21-year-old has for the lives of others,” De Vries told a Dutch newspaper. “The fact that he goes into the trafficking of women after the disappearance of Natalee is typical of him.”

In February, judges rejected an attempt to arrest Van der Sloot for a third time in her disappearance. He was released due to insufficient evidence the first two times he was arrested.

Aruban prosecutors had sought to detain him based on hidden-camera recordings captured by a Dutch TV crime show. In the video, Van der Sloot said Holloway collapsed on the beach after they left the bar and he called a friend to dump her body at sea.

Joseph Tacopina, a lawyer for student Van der Sloot, said in February that his client was not responsible for the Alabama teen's death and that the tapes did not amount to a confession.

"There was no confession, no admission of a crime by Joran on any of these tapes, which is very telling," Tacopina said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

According to the report by DutchNews.nl, Thai authorities are now asking for a copy of the report that was released on Sunday with evidence of Van der Sloot's involvement in the trafficking of Thai women to the Netherlands.

A London police unit dedicated to tackling human trafficking will close after the Home Office withdrew £2.3m funding support.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the Human Trafficking Team will disband in April 2009.

Critics say the unit is vital to protecting vulnerable men, women and children who are sold or lured into the sex trade, slavery or illegal working.

But the Home Office said the money was intended as one-off start-up funding.

A Home Office spokesman said the government's support for the policing of those who traffic people into the UK for the sex trade or as low-cost illegal workers will continue.

"The Met does not have the additional funds to keep the team running in its current format whilst meeting other existing policing requirements." Charities that attempt to rescue those trafficked into the UK against their will estimate that as many as 4,000 people are currently in the country as a result of being trafficked. Many are used as slave labour or forced into prostitution.

Slave labour"We have made it clear that trafficking should be core police business and a high priority, and the Home Office is continuing to support forces' effort, notably through funding the UK Human Trafficking Centre with £1.7m this year."

But in a statement, the Met said the dedicated team launched in March 2007 will have to cease operations because it does not have the money to keep it open.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

MADRID, 7 November -- As tourism and international travel across the globe reaches unprecedented levels, so does the need to combat child labor and sexual exploitation in the global travel industry -- that is why the United Nations body for tourism is taking action now.

A new awareness campaign from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Task Force for the Protection of Children in Tourism will look to raise the profile of children who are being exploited.

A total of 218 million children are estimated to be engaged in labor world wide, while millions are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, according to the International Labor Organization.

The UNWTO strongly believes that the tourism industry has a moral obligation and a special responsibility to combat child labor, sexual exploitation and trafficking of children.

“The tourism industry is an economic sector that creates job opportunities and enriches the lives of many people across the globe. We, in the UNWTO, stand for responsible and sustainable tourism, one that is respectful of the people and their local culture, and committed to help generate income and decent employment for local communities. But most of all, we stand for an industry that is respectful of human rights. Our industry has, therefore, a strong obligation to be at the forefront of this campaign” says Taleb Rifai, Deputy Secretary-General of the UNWTO. “We must act now. Children are our future. Don’t let child abuse travel!”

"There are few human rights violations more disturbing than the exploitation of children either for labor or sexual acts. All of us who work in the field of tourism should fight against these abuses and contribute to their eradication," says Dawid de Villiers, Chairman of the International Task Force.

UNWTO's website outlines opportunities for people to get involved in the campaign:

Using the campaign’s logo wherever possible

Distributing the logo, sticker and other print materials.

Linking your website to www.unwto.org/protectchildren

Organizing your campaign in your community using the tools

Planning an event for 20 November - Universal Children’s Day

Distributing the video (available on November 10)

Informing your media contacts about the campaign

Sending us information on your activities for our campaign

This topic was the focus of several sessions at the 2008 UNGIFT Vienna Forum. As outlined on the campaign's action list, this effort will require extensive public-private cooperation as well as the active involvement of individual people to become informed and responsible travelers. Get involved today.

HANOI, Nov. 6 -- Human trafficking in the six Mekong countries is expected to increase due to growing migration within the sub-region, the Laos newspaper Vientiane Times reported on Thursday, citing the Anti-human Trafficking Committee Secretariat Head Kiengkham Inphengthavong as saying.

"Trafficking in persons nowadays is increasingly acute and dangerous. It operates in a very intricate manner, and comes in many forms, and is therefore very hard to monitor and control," said Kiengkham Inphengthavong at the sixth Senior Officials Meeting held in Vientiane on Wednesday as part of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT).

Annually, the number of people trafficked from and within the region is estimated at between 200,000 and 450,000, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The meeting brought together government officials from the six Mekong countries - Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Myanmar and Cambodia - to share their experiences and decide on appropriate responses to the increase in human trafficking.

"The purpose of human trafficking is not only for sexual exploitation but also labor exploitation in factories, sweatshops, domestic work, begging and in the fishing industry. The problem is far more widespread than many would think," he added.

According to the Laos' Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, from 2001 to 2008, 1,229 trafficked people, mostly women and girls, have been repatriated to Laos from Thailand under the Lao-Thai memorandum of understanding on human trafficking.

Laos is developing victim protection guidelines to ensure a more holistic and rights-based approach to the provision of care and assistance to victims of human trafficking, Khiengkham said.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Under the watchful eye of law enforcement in 40 states, Craigslist pledged Thursday to crack down on ads for prostitution on its Web sites.

As part of Craigslist's agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an "erotic services" ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, said the deal will allow legitimate escort services to continue advertising, while providing a strong disincentive to companies that are conducting illegal business.

"We don't view it as a penalty, we view it as raising the accountability," he said. "A legitimate business should have no problem with that. They should have no problem providing a phone number or credit card credentials."

Craigslist filed lawsuits this week against 14 software and Internet companies that help people who post erotic service ads to circumvent the Web site's defenses against inappropriate content and illegal activity.

Craigslist, which posts 30 million ads every month for everything from apartment rentals to jobs in hundreds of cities, will also begin using new search technology in an effort to help authorities find missing children and victims of human trafficking.

Police across the country have been arresting people for using Web sites like Craigslist to advertise the sexual services of women and children.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who brokered the agreement, said his office contacted Craigslist after receiving several complaints from users late in 2007 about photographs depicting nudity on the site. He said Craigslist cooperated fully and there was never a need to threaten legal action against the company.

"The dark side of the Internet must be stopped from eclipsing its immense potential for good," Blumenthal said.

He added: "I am fully convinced that Craigslist wants to stop this activity as much as we do."

Free the Slaves is pleased to announce that they are currently accepting nominations for the 2009 Freedom Awards.

The Freedom Awards celebrate the vision and courage of community-based organizations, survivors of slavery, individual leaders and young adult anti-slavery activists who are showing the way to a world without slavery. Please help by making a nomination. Please also pass along this invitation to anyone who might be able to nominate suitable organizations or individuals. Self-nominations are welcome.

Each award has its own requirements and nomination form. To get more information and the correct form, visit the awards webpages: www.thefreedomawards.net or send an email to: freedomawards@freetheslaves.net

The deadline for nominations is Monday, December 1, 2008.

The awards will be given out during the fall of 2009. Awardees will be flown to the USA for an inspirational evening that honors the vision and courage of slavery survivors, community based organizations bringing slaves to freedom, individual leaders, young adult activists and communicators spreading the word about slavery.

Shall the City: stop enforcing laws against prostitution; stop funding or supporting the First Offender Prostitution Program or any similar anti-prostitution program; enforce existing criminal laws that prohibit crimes such as battery, extortion and rape, regardless of the victim's status as a sex worker; and fully disclose the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against sex workers?

Should the proposed ordinance be approved by the voters, in my opinion, costs could increase or decrease depending on how the City implements the ordinance. The ultimate cost or savings from the proposal would depend on decisions made in the City's budget process.

In general, the ordinance proposes to decriminalize prostitution by restricting the City from allocating resources to the investigation and prosecution of prostitutes for prostitution. Investigation and prosecution of other crimes related to prostitution would not be restricted.

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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Department of Justice (DOJ) undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor hailed the initiative of the private sector and other non-governmental organization in assisting the government in its fight against human trafficking syndicates.

Blancaflor particularly praised the steps taken by pioneering computer and software giant Microsoft Corporation in educating through the internet young women throughout Asia regarding the evils and dangers of dealing with illegal labor recruiters.”

Microsoft’s initiative will do a great deal in boosting the campaign against human trafficking. It will definitely bear fruits one of these days,” he said.

Blancaflor stressed that the government’s limited resources in going after these syndicates make this alliance with the private sector very convenient.

He said NGOs and private sectors allies of the DOJ are very useful in providing information and logistic support in going after human traffickers.

Blancaflor made this pronouncement shortly after he informed the media that Philippine and Malaysian authorities succeeded in neutralizing a Kuala Lumpur-based Singaporean national, Alfred Lim, who is involved in human trafficking of Filipinas and other nationalities.

He said the arrest and filing of appropriate charges against Lim by Malaysian and Philippine authorities speak well of the cooperation between Southeast Asian nations in the war against human trafficking.

A gang of human traffickers, brothel keepers and pimps received substantial jail terms yesterday over the ordeal of a teenage virgin tricked into travelling to the UK for a life of sexual "slavery".

Their Slovakian victim had cried in the dock as she described spending nearly a year-and-a-half working as a prostitute after being lured to Britain at the age of 16 with the promise of a job in a pub. She told of being sold on from owner to owner, raped by one who was never identified, beaten and threatened.

Six men received sentences of up to 14 years for what the judge called a "terrible story of betrayal".

One, Turkish-born Ali Arslan, was also involved in the plight of a second victim. He was convicted of running a brothel in Hackney, east London, where the 22-year-old woman was forced to work after leaving her six-month-old baby daughter with relatives in Lithuania, having been convinced by one of her brother's school friends that she could earn good money in a warehouse in Britain to provide her child with a better future.

London's Southwark crown court heard she was instead sold for £4,000 to a man who raped and assaulted her before putting her to work as a prostitute. He was never caught.